Description: The Swimsuit: Fashion from Poolside to Catwalk documents the modern swimsuit's trajectory from men's underwear and circus/performance wear to its unique niche in world fashion, providing an historical, sociological and cultural context in which to view the swimsuit.
Brief description: Christine Schmidt is a fashion researcher and independent fashion and concept consultant.
Review Quotes:
"In this book Christine Schmidt traces the history of this fairly modern piece of attire, from the murky world of men's underwear and circus/performance wear to its current elevated position in the fashion world. The author also goes into the historical, sociological and cultural context in which to view the swimsuit." --The Crack
"Schmidt writes clearly and lucidly... Production quality is high and the volume is well illustrated... The Swimsuit shows how important it is that scholars and analysts of sport pay attention to and explore broader and related cultural industries. The sport-fashion links are among the most useful there: as two borderline and hybrid cultural industries, their interweaving can and should tell us a lot about sport as a consumer industry and its contemporary cultural imbrications." --Malcolm MacLean, University of Gloucestershire, idrottsforum.org